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Show U ofllL o 1L B Hill AFB, Utah www.hilltoptimes.com hilltop.pahill.af.mil Vol. 58 No. 21, May 30, 2002 B 84056-582- 4 New enlisted chief reaches career goa INSIDE: by Tech. Sgt. Barb Lavlgne m.wjii , . , 15th Air Base Wing Public Affairs - -- H1CKAM AFB, Hawaii (AFPN) ; the Pacific Air Forces command chief mas- l l VV--' .4css. I w I Adream has come true for the man who is currently H ( it A J Volunteers clean ter sergeant "Becoming chief master sergeant of the Air Force is a young airman's dream," said Chief Master Sgt Gerald Murray, the newly selected 14th chief master sergeant of the Air Force. That dream became a reality for Murray on May 24 when Gen. John P. Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, called him and asked if he would accept becoming the next chief master sergeant of the Air Force. Murray said yes, and will become the 14th chief master sergeant of the Air Force on July 1. "My heart nearlyjumped out of my chest," Murray said. "I was filled with a lot of emo tion as I contemplated the awesome responsibility that he just bestowed upon me. What an honor." Looking back over his career, he said what he has gleaned over time is that it is imporand that the enlisted tant to set goals career path is not one that leads everyone to actually become the chief master sergeant of the Air Force. After all, only 13 have served. Murray, who enlisted in the Air Force on Oct 31, 1977, didn't set out to make the Air Force a career. Even at his four-yepoint when he for the first time, he said he was not sure. One thing he was sure of, though, was that he wanted to do the very best he could. "It wasn't until my second enlistment, at my point that I clearly knew I wanted to make the Air Force a career and set my goal to become a chief master sergeant" he said. "I enjoyed my job as (an) aircraft ar ed 10-yea- base maintenance mechanic working on fighters and the flightline. "Making rank was fairly easy for me, in a sense," Murray said. To some degree it was a matter of timing, similar to what's afforded airmen serving today. Because retention was down in the early 80s, promotion rates were high like they are today. Staff (sergeant) was about 48 percent and technical sergeant was still higher than the average when I made it When I made staff, tech and master sergeant all on the first attempt, I felt that making chief was definitely attainable." 't.iMJ, i i K- A . , . With that realization, Murray said he set out to become the best noncommissioned officer and supervisor he could be. Becoming a chief master sergeant of the Air Force still just a fleeting dream. The Air Force and my family gave me all the chances I needed to attain my goals," B See Murray, page 5 Chief Master Sgt. Gerald Murray Lest we forget.. Page 2 Pre-inspecito- : ns ,rs f) help results H Ail . Page 3 er";- F PI) - . -- 1 -- A- . (A wwlv I wl Erv--n"- t T r a June classes scheduled II ,1,tm"-J- Page 6 VV r r 418ttHYlr.3 n ' V." .iA iii Staff Sgt Eric Chrostowski and Tech. Sgt. Kathlene Walsh, above, carry the wreath from the Hill Aerospace Museum Chapel to the Medal of Honor monument during Monday's Memorial Day observance. Master Sgt. Terrance Dammer, below right, prepares to play the National Anthem. The military's oldest medal, the purple heart, is commemorated with a garden of pansies, petunias, geraniums and alyssum in front of the Hill Clinic, above right. A Friday ceremony dedicated the garden, sponsored by the Military Order of the Purple Heart chapter 995. A-- D TVA ;' ..i.J .V !;: r i, b . .f . . J Photos by Beth Young and Gary Boyle Heads tip Pages jrl - r- , n . 1 rr J ,N .ly-l fl 1 rim f i .S.' I X 1 111 Great Kids Day Saturday Page? Teamwork saves fan replacement costs by Mark Oleson im4 Electronic Directorate Engineers in the Electronic Directorate's Production Support Division have developed a process to repair the E3A Sentry fan housing instead of replacing it. Not only does this effort save the Air Force more than $2,000, it also helps assure the uninterrupted operation of the premier air battle command and control aircraft. This fan helps cool the electronics in the radome, the familiar rotating radar dome mounted on the top of the airborne aircraft. The 3 warning and control system AWACS aircraft surveillance, command, provides Sentry jW A E-- control and communications needed by commanders of United States, NATO and other allied air defense forces. The LE engineering team was faced with a growing inventory of damaged E3Afan housings that were to be condemned. The replacement fan housings are not only expensive," explained Ron Smith, who with Richard Griffin oversees the process, "but they also have a minimum of an lead time for purchase." The surface of the fan housing would often fall out of tolerances. To avoid the housings being condemned, the team planned to carefully sandblast the mounting surface, and then flame spray it a process by which a metal wire or rod is heated and then sprayed onto another metal surface. The flame spray process builds up the lid mounting surface of an item," Griffin said, "so it can then be ground back down to exact specifications and extremely tight tolerances." The team first approached Jim Musselman in the Rubber Shop who made custom rubber plugs to protect the fan houssurface was sandblasted and flame ing while the spayed. Next, Grant Cheever from the Process Engineering Branch of the Commodities Directorate identified the proper metal wire to be used in the flame spray procedure, carried out by Ralph Ramos. "Grinding the surface back down to tolerances proved to be quite an obstacle," explained Griffin. "During the grinding procedure, the unique nature of the lid surface made it impossible to measure using any of our current tools." Faced with finding and purchasing an expensive measuring device, the team brainstormed with Doug Cogdill of the H See Process, page 2 4 , J, ' Y . ; L5pntWN ,v 1. r . ? -- w i - i. I th Commander's Cup golf PageS MI1PUCI inspection is June 20. Get ready how! V POOR COPY! i ' "in in - iiwfei..---rr,..- aryan rt J ""win Photos by Mark Oleson J1 3 ssifr .ii r 1 Ralph rtamos flame sprays an E3A fan housing, above, to build up the lid mounting surface. Technician Humberto "Kidd" Perez and engineer Ron Smith, left, check the Internal dimensions of a repaired fan housing. The new process cuts costs by 85 percent and returns the part to the supply chain 97 percent faster than before. J "'iim nm mt |